ST BARTHOLOMEW’S ANGLICAN CHURCH ST BARTHS, F.W.I.
The Anchor DEC 2013 / JAN 2014 Welcome to our new Newsletter - The Anchor. As you know, an anchor adorns the quayside opposite the Church, and we hope that this newsletter will act like an anchor keeping you connected to our Church, where God is a secure anchor during life’s stormy weather.
Service Times Family Eucharist Sundays at 9am A contemporary service, filled with music and prayer followed by refreshments
Spirituality Group Wednesdays at 10am Christian book discussion group - first-timers welcome. Our current book is Richard Rohr’s ‘Falling Upwards’
Meditation Group Thursdays at 7pm A non-sectarian and bilingual group with silent reflection at its core
Taizé Service - monthly 21st
Tuesday, Jan at 7pm Modern chant and prayer in a candlelit and peaceful setting
This first edition contains Father Charlie’s report on the previous church year … Dear Friends As I sit down to write this Report, yet another church year draws to a close. At the same time, the island’s new season has started. 2013 has been a very active year for both the church and the island. It’s also been a year of considerable movement in the worldwide church. Perhaps the most exciting of all of these changes was the election of Pope Francis. It seems such a long time ago that the aging and ailing Pope Benedict announced his brave decision to stand down as a result of his increasing ill health and incapacity. It was a very brave and courageous decision by him – the first Pope ever to do it! If I think back to that moment, I suspect I, like so many others, felt that while this was almost certainly a sensible decision, it was highly likely that the conclave of cardinals would simply elect a “Benedict lookalike” who would fiercely defend the status quo! How wrong we all were! (Continued on page 2)
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Forthcoming Events Lessons & Carols Dec 24th at 6.30pm Our annual service of Gospel readings from the Nativity with seasonal carols
Christmas Day Service Dec 25th at 9am Do come and join us to celebrate the birth of Jesus
Games in the Garden Jan 1st at 3pm Croquet and Scrabble played in the Church Garden, with refreshments
Barts Book Club Starting in January 2014 Discussion of ‘bestseller’ books. See the Notice Board for details
We hope to publish The Anchor on a regular basis during the high season. If you would like to receive The Anchor, even when you are not on the island, please let us have your email address. You can also find more information about St Bartholomew’s Church on our web page: www.stbartholomewsanglicanchurch.com Or visit our new Facebook site: www.facebook.com/stbartschurch.stbarts
Contact: Philip Trangmar, 0590 27 57 11 Email: info.stbartholomews@gmail.com
During the first year of Francis’ papacy, it has been widely reported that Roman Catholic congregations, worldwide, have increased by as much as 20%! This is really quite extraordinary. What is even more enlightening and exciting is that a large proportion of that increase is amongst the young. Pope Francis has struck a chord that resonates deeply with many people. His authentic teaching and lifestyle not only shows but demonstrates an integrity that so transparently has the Heart of Christ right at its very centre. Pope Francis refused the palatial and grand papal apartment, he takes the bus rather than the Vatican chauffeur, he wears simple vestments, he washes the feet of women prisoners, and he embraces and prays with the disfigured, the ugly, the desperate and the poor. He declares that the church should be a church of the poor and for the poor. He questions, openly and bravely the church’s traditional teaching on sexuality, on the role of women in ordained ministry, of contraception and so many other things. The list goes on and on.
And so why has this rather extraordinary new Pope, a priest from Argentina, had such a profound affect in such a short time? It seems to me that people recognize integrity and authenticity very easily and with much enthusiasm. There is a very deep and spiritual thirst in each and every created being. There is a longing for an authentic spiritual journey, a true desire by the Dec 2013 / Jan 2014
soul to experience a “oneness” with The Divine at a truly mystical, spiritual and practical level. The problem is that that search will never be answered and has never been answered by a structure that is more concerned with control, rules and regulations and, dare I say it, a healthy level of hypocrisy! So we have much to celebrate in the election of Pope Francis and by happy coincidence, the election of a new “first among equals” in the new leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury, appointed earlier this year. Archbishop Justin is also a breath of very fresh air. Coincidentally, I was at school with him – he was one year younger than me, although sadly I did not know him well. The Archbishop was, for many years, in the business world in a senior management position negotiating international oil deals and gained a real and true understanding of global business life. His geographic area of expertise was and is Africa. Archbishop Justin came to faith through the charismatic movement and has a deep understanding of and connection with Holy Trinity Brompton, in London (and all its clergy) who are the leading charismatic church in the UK that developed the Alpha course. However, Justin’s spiritual journey led him to investigate and develop his spirituality in much broader ways – particularly through Ignatian spirituality (in other words a more contemplative approach) which when combined with his charismatic roots, make for a wonderfully rich and broad approach. Consequently, Archbishop Justin in a man who is thoroughly rounded – of broad churchmanship – of considerPage 2
able experience in the ways of the world but with a deep sense of social responsibility and spirituality. He is not afraid of controversy and is currently sitting on a number political committees in the UK. He makes his point – however uncomfortable it might be for those hearing it and as a result, is gaining much respect both in the UK and worldwide. In fact, his understanding of African culture has been hugely helpful in starting to build bridges between the different cultures that make up the Anglican Church. His ministry is gaining traction and so it is a very hopeful time for our global Anglican Church.
The church year here in St Barths, has seen much activity. As you all know, we welcomed Canon Jeannie Loughrey to the church in June of 2012 hoping that she would be with us for 2 years. Canon Jeannie made a significant impact whilst she was here and continued, with much energy, to develop the church’s roots in our local community. She started up a children’s group for the weekends, a film group for Sunday evenings, a revitalized spirituality group and so many other things. I thoroughly enjoyed serving with her during the year she was here. However, as many of you know, sadly Jeannie left us in September this year, as being a nonEuropean citizen, she was unable to extend her visa. We were sad to see her go and send her much love and many thanks for all that she has done for us. I have no doubt that we The Anchor
will see her here again as a visiting priest and we much look forward to welcoming her back. 2013 has also brought significant change in my own life. Mandie and I have finally sold the hotel and whilst I remain Chairman, I really have very little executive responsibility. As a result, I much look forward to being able to give more energy to ministry in the church here, supported by an ever expanding team of visiting clergy who so greatly enrich our worship throughout the year. Our plan, is to be on the island for 7 to 8 months a year and spending the rest in Europe. It is our intention, to have priestly cover throughout the year (apart from September) with priests joining us from the USA, Canada and the UK. As I look at the schedule for the forthcoming year, it looks as though we will have a full rota covering all months, which I am delighted by. Organizationally, the vestry has been expanded, and we are so fortunate to have such a collection of committed and able people with differing talents that is enabling the church to operate in an increasingly efficient and developed way. Dave Jackson, is now living on island full time and as a result, the church is looking in great shape. Both the church centre and the inside of the church and all of its doors were repainted and repaired during the year and it is our plan to repaint the vicarage in its entirety during 2014. From an organizational perspective, Philip Trangmar has been extremely helpful in chairing the finance committee and our system of monthly management accounts and forward budgeting is now in excellent shape. From a spiritual perspective, I am delighted by the developing The Anchor
presence of the Anglican Church in the French community in St Barths. We have an ever increasing demand for French weddings, baptisms and other rites of passage. During the year, we celebrated 8 weddings, 3 baptisms and 2 funerals. Mass was celebrated 53 times during the year with a total throughput of the church of 3,356 people.
What I continue to find enormously exciting and fulfilling is that this church is a church where we celebrate the richness of our diversity. People from so many different cultures, colours, life experiences and backgrounds come through our doors. For me that is a wonderful demonstration of The Divine personality. We are a church where everybody and everything is welcomed, an inclusive church where I really do believe that “everything belongs”. The spirituality group has just started again for the new season and we are studying another Richard Rohr book “Falling Upwards”. This is a wonderful study of each of our spiritual journeys. Do please come and join us when you are on island. We meet at 10am on Wednesday mornings. The meditation group at 7pm on Thursday evenings, held in both French and English continues to grow and is such a wonderful resource for those wishing to further explore their spiritual centre. We are now intending to look at holding a short service of Taize songs and prayers on Tuesday evePage 3
nings – for those of you who have not experienced Taize music, it is a wonderful contemplative and gentle experience which we hope will be helpful. As I’m sure most of you know, Dear Miss Alice Romney died in September of this year. Miss Alice has been the matriarch of the church for as long as I’ve been vicar and for so many years before. All of us remember her wonderful smile and how elegant she looked when she came to church, often in the wonderful blue hat that she bought in Paris. All of us were immensely fond of her and we shall greatly miss her gentle and profound wisdom. All of us send her children – particularly Arlette, Clarion, Marjorie, Harry and Lucien – and all her family much love and support in their loss. However, she had an extraordinarily long life and died at age 95 and it was time for her to “go home” where I’m sure she will have been welcomed with a hearty “well done”!
Also, as everybody knows, we received the really sad news this year that dear Charles Darden had died from cancer. Whilst he had been ill for some time, he remained in excellent and positive form and was greatly supported by many people from his “St Barths family”. A particular thank you goes to Scudder and Helen Smith who Charles adored and visited him in Florida as he approached the end of his life. Charles played such a central role in the life of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church. How incredibly fortunate we were to Dec 2013 / Jan 2014
have a musician of such vigour, such infectious enthusiasm and tremendous musical ability. He enlivened our worship in a way that was truly memorable. I have so many friends from around the world who will never forget Charles, his repertoire and particularly his rendering of “Thank you Lord”. Charles had also been a central part of the St Barths community as a whole for many years. Many of us remember his wonderful evenings at the Guanahani and so many private parties that he played at. He was a great music director, a wonderful mentor for the chorale, a good friend and a man of great warmth and faith. We had a wonderful memorial service for him on island, which was packed out. He will be much missed by both his family and all of his friends here, both past and present.
We are very fortunate to have recruited a new music director, Shirley Dern. Shirley has been leading the Chorale for a number of years now and has made tremendous progress in “stepping up to the plate” for our Sunday worship and all the other services that we undertake in the church. We are most grateful to her and to all others who help in our music ministry.
Donations: We are an entirely volunteer church and dependent on your generosity and regular giving.
Website: www.stbartholomewsanglicanchurch.com Bishop: Rt Revd Errol Brooks, Bishop, NE Caribbean & Aruba Vicar: The Revd Charlie Vere Nicoll – 0590 27 13 06 Visiting Clergy: Bishop Ted Eastman & Revd Steve Huber Wardens: Marjorie Romney, Trinette Wellesley-Wesley, Rachel Barrett-Trangmar Vestry: The Wardens, Clarion Romney, Dawn Drouant, Dave Jackson, Lloyd Younger, Philip Trangmar Treasurer: Alex Harbord Music Director: Shirley Dern
Do please talk to Father Charlie or one of the Church’s leadership about how to most effectively support the Church. If you are a US citizen, giving through our US charitable foundation, Friends of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, is tax deductible. Photos: Thanks to Rosemond Greaux, Mandie Vere Nicoll and Roger Wollstadt (Flickr) for the use of their photographs. Dec 2013 / Jan 2014
As I mentioned earlier, we are so wonderfully supported by our visiting clergy program and I’d like to take this opportunity of thanking all of them for all that they do for us. You will be meeting them and a number of new priests during the course of this year.
entirely dependent on giving by our congregations and members of the church. We are very fortunate in having an extremely well-honed structure for financial giving – under the auspices of either the local church and its treasurer and finance committee or our dedicated US charitable trust “Friends of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church”. This is extremely efficiently run by the board of trustees chaired by Bill Barrett and we are so grateful to them for all the hard work that they do for us. We look forward to seeing you at Church and thank you again for all your support. With love and blessings.
As always, I would like to thank everybody who gives so generously to the church here. We are
Chairman of Friend’s US Charitable Foundation: Bill Barrett Friend’s of St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church US Charitable Foundation: c/o Ms Ann Green P.O. Box 6199, Fair Haven, New Jersey 07704, United States Tel: (732) 741 1500, Fax: (732) 741 1925, Email: anncwgreen@aol.com Published by: l’Association d’Egilse Anglicane, Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy Page 4
The Anchor